Air investigators have released video of US Airways Flight 1549 crash-landing in New York's Hudson river on Thursday.

Two minutes into the first video, taken from coast guard cameras, spray can be seen on the left of the picture as the underbelly of the Airbus A320 hits the water. As the camera zooms in you can see the back half of the plane sinking into the water and the swift current that pulled the plane down the river as the passengers escaped on to the wings.

Within minutes a ferry has sped out to the right wing of the plane, joined by another two rescue boats minutes later.

This second video shows more clearly the controlled glide of the plane on to the water. It explains why the pilot and co-pilot made the split-second decision to land in the Hudson rather than attempt to return to LaGuardia or fly on to the nearby Teterboro airport.